This entry has been drafted by a member of the APILS team on the basis of publicly available materials. Its content has been neither peer reviewed nor checked for accuracy by any government official.
Overview
The requirements for the legal review process adopted by New Zealand are set out in the Manual of Armed Forces Law – Volume 4: Law of Armed Conflict. In conducting Article 36 reviews, so far New Zealand has focused on reviewing conventional weapon systems. The review process is generally initiated by a request for a legal review coming from industry. The review takes into consideration:
- specific provisions of customary international law and international treaty law applicable to New Zealand;
- general principles on the use of weapons as reflected in AP I;
- the Martens Clause; and
- applicable domestic law and policies.
In particular, as part of the analysis of whether a weapon under review may contravene principles of humanity or the dictates of public conscience, the reviewing authority considers whether a weapon is reflective of values shared by New Zealanders. Such values may be captured in policy statements. For example, while nuclear weapons are not prohibited under customary international law, New Zealand considers the use of any weapon systems with nuclear capabilities as inherently incompatible with societal values of New Zealanders.
References
Key documents
- New Zealand Defence Force
DM 69: Manual of Armed Forces Law – Volume 4: Law of Armed Conflict
(2nd ed, 8 January 2019) Chapter 7, Section 4
Further references
- Vincent Boulanin and Maaike Verbruggen, SIPRI Compendium on Article 36 Reviews (SIPRI, December, 2017) 10–12
- Tim Wood, “AWS Legal Review Series — Inclusion of Quasi-Legal Considerations”, Articles of War (12 March 2024)
